Family Vay-cay!

Family Vacation!  

One of my absolute favorite times of the year!  

My aunt and uncle own a lake "cottage" on a little lake in Michigan.  They graciously allow my family (and many other families) to come and spend some time there.

This year only part of the family was able to go.  Jim, Krissa and kids weren't there and neither was Joe.

Just Mom and Dad, John and Amy, Ben and I. 

But it was a lot of fun =)

Our first stop after Mom and Dad picked us up from the airport was breakfast (we got in at around 8:45 am).  Second stop was an open-air produce stand on the side of the road. We got all kinds of things!

The view from the stand overlooked a beautiful farm!

So many fresh fruits and vegetables! One of Ben's favorite veggies is beets.  Our family never really ate beets, so we were unsure how to prepare them.  A kind gentleman also shopping at the stand told us a few pointers.  So mom bought some beets.  They turned out great! (at least Ben says so...they aren't my favorite).

This was our shopping list for the week (and I think a second run was made a few days in).  My mom is so good about getting every person a little something that is their favorite.  Whether it be Oreos for Ben, Salami and olives for John, tasty creamer and ice cream for Amy, potato chips for me, Chips and salsa for dad or some nice gluten free products for herself...everyone was HAPPY when it came to food =)

View from the porch. it is such a relaxing place!

My brother John is a serious boat driver.  He knows how to handle that machine quite well. 

And he means business.  He always knew how to give us a good ride. 

Ben and I on the tube.  

Sorry, he just looked so professional.

My cute parentals enjoying some time together.  Windblown and wonderful.

Oh and my mom is a great water-sports woman!  Got up on a wakeboard on pretty much the first try and stayed up!

My handsome hubby enjoying the day!

Dad too was a good driver.  A wee bit more cautious than John =)

in addition to being a good driver, John is an excellent wakeboarder and skier.  

John and Amy get some quality tubing time in!

Mumzy and Amy adequately prepared for some "toodling" around the lake after dinner. 

John decided to forego toodling for some fast-paced jet-skiing instead! 

Ben got domestic with my mom and helped make some DELICIOUS gf oatmeal cookies! (with LOTS of chocolate chips...i think they doubled the amount.  They were sweet enough to bake me a few without any chocolate though!) 

Final product.  I think the cookie dough was about as delicious as the actual cookies! 

John and Dad de-pooping the shrimp.  As you can tell by their expressions this was not the lovliest of jobs.

mmm yummy mixed veggies for the kabobs! 

And there they are all put together.  A family vacation tradition! 

Me and Daddio put them together. 

Enjoying some time with Ben 

John and Amy enjoying some quality time too!

The grill master right here.  (At least when Krissa isn't here...she's the true grill-master at family functions!)

Me and my college roomie, Jamie, tubing.  She and her husband Arek live in Grand Rapids and came up to spend the afternoon/evening with us!  It was so great to see them and catch up!  Wish I got more pictures, but we were too busy having fun! 

My dad is an intense ping-pong player.  Like, really good.  It brought out the intense competitive side of Ben.  But I think my dad still won.

Better luck next time, honey!  maybe we should get our own table so you can practice for next family vacation!

He was intensely playing, and John was having fun photo-bombing. 

Crazy guy. 

Big Pine Island Lake...so beautiful.

Overall it was a fantastic family vacation.  We missed J,K,K,E and J...it's never the same without them.  But we still had lots of fun.  Devotions, singing, laughing, games, sleeping, eating, boating, tubing, relaxing...exactly what a vacation should be.  There were only a few questionable tubing moments when the riders thought they were going to die.  But everyone made it out alive, so that's good. 

At the end of the day, I always enjoy time with my family.  And thankfully, so did Ben.  It is such a blessing that he gets along with my family and they like him.  My mom pointed out how great it was to spend time with us as a married couple and see how good we are for each other (especially how good Ben is for me.)  She said that he reads me well and knows how to handle me and respond to me, whether it be giving me some space, just sitting and being quiet with me, talking through things with me, giving me a back rub etc...

He's pretty much the greatest thing that has happened to me since Jesus. 

Although I did realize something.  I am not quite sure always how to balance being "Married, grown-up Suzy, wife of Ben"  and "Suzy, daughter and sister and part of the Tom Klotzle family."  I feel like they are still a little separate and it will take time for the two to mesh together.  I enjoyed the opportunity for growth in relationships with Ben as well as my parents and siblings.  

Anyway, there you are! a snippet of a fun week with the fam!